Trauma experts at UPMC are launching a trial experiment to see if they can save patients who are in danger of bleeding to death by cooling their bodies.

Channel 4 Action News anchor Sally Wiggin went inside the operating room at UPMC Presbyterian to watch a simulation of the procedure, which cools the body to 50 degrees below normal temperature.

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"What we're hoping to do with hypothermia is decrease the need for oxygen, decrease the need for blood flow, to buy time to get the person to the operating room and fix the injuries from a surgical perspective," Dr. Samuel Tisherman said.

The cooling would be done on a patient who has suffered penetrating trauma -- like a gunshot or a stab wound -- and is still in cardiac arrest after coming into the trauma bay.

Cooling by 50 degrees may help stop the bleeding, but the heart won't beat at that temperature.

"Have to cool them quickly, get to the operating room quickly, stop the bleeding quickly, have a cardiothoracic surgeon use a heart-lung machine to resuscitate them," Tisherman said.

Federal approval of the experiment requires a large amount of public information, community forums and news releases because, in a real-life situation, there would be no time to get consent from the patient or the family.

Researchers will discuss more information and answer questions at a pair of public meetings on Dec. 7 and Dec. 8 at noon at the William Pitt Union in Oakland. Go to acutecareresearch.org for details.